Bookish Challenges discussion

Think Tetris meets your books pile — this is no ordinary reading game.

Here’s your mission:

🧱 You’re starting with 5 columns, each 3 blocks high. These blocks? They represent different aspects of reading described further below

🔄 Each round, you’ll get 5 new random book blocks. You can read at least 3 (or go for all 5) and place them above your current stacks.

🎯 The goal? Clear all your blocks by strategically stacking 3 or more of the same color in a row or column. Every clear gets you closer to victory!

💡You can end the game after 10 rounds, or keep going until you clear your stack.

🎁 Score time:

Each block you read for = 2 points
Clear the entire board = Bonus 25 points

📖 Sample game📖

Initial blocks

Your initial random stack looks like below

🟦 💖 ⬜ 🟠 🟥
🟫 🟥 🟫 🟩 🟩
🟠 🟪 🟤 💖 ⬜
  1   2    3    4    5

Note : ❌ means empty space in a row which contains some blocks where you can place new blocks in a round

Round 1

You receive the below 5 random blocks
🟤 🟠 🟤 🟠 🟦
You read for 🟠 🟠 🟦 tasks and decide to place the 2 bronze blocks over the current bronze block at position 4 thus eliminating the 3 of them and the blue box above the current blue block at position 1

So your board looks like

🟦
🟦 💖 ⬜ ❌ 🟥
🟫 🟥 🟫 🟩 🟩
🟠 🟪 🟤 💖 ⬜
  1   2    3    4    5

Round 2

🟥 🟩 ⬜ 🟩 🟦

You decide to read for all 5 and place the 2 green above the green at position 4, the red above the red at position 1 and white above the white at position 3 and the blue above the blue at position 1. Board at end of round 2:

❌ ❌ ⬜ ❌ 🟥
❌ 💖 ⬜ ❌ 🟥
🟫 🟥 🟫 ❌ 🟩
🟠 🟪 🟤 💖 ⬜
  1   2    3    4    5

and so on..


Each round, you’ll need to think strategically, decide which books to read, and place your blocks wisely to trigger those satisfying clears!

Blocks described

🟨 Yellow Blocks – Solid Foundation (Comfort Reads)

1. A book by an author you love
2. A book you’ve read before (reread)
3. A cosy mystery or light-hearted book

🟥 Red Blocks – High Stakes (Thrillers & Suspense)

1. A book with a chase or escape scene
2. A crime or psychological thriller
3. A book with “danger” in the title

🟦 Blue Blocks – Deep Dives (Long or Thoughtful Reads)


1. A book over 500 pages
2. A classic or literary fiction novel
3. A book exploring deep emotions or philosophy

🟩 Green Blocks – Fresh Discoveries (New & Diverse Reads)

1. A book by a debut author
2. A translated book
3. A book from a genre you rarely read

🟪 Purple Blocks – Magical Journeys (Fantasy & Sci-Fi)

1. A book with magic or mythology
2. A science fiction novel
3. A book featuring time travel or alternate realities

🟧 Orange Blocks – Historical Journeys (Past & Present Stories)

1. A historical fiction novel
2. A memoir or biography
3. A book set before 1950

⬛ Black Blocks – Dark & Twisted (Horror & Gothic Reads)

1. A horror or gothic novel
2. A book with a haunted house or eerie setting
3. A book featuring a villain’s POV

🟫 Brown Blocks – Down to Earth (Realistic & Contemporary Reads)

1. A contemporary fiction novel
2. A book with themes of friendship or family
3. A book about personal growth

⬜ White Blocks – Wild Card (Free Choice)

1. A book outside of your usual picks
2. A book with a one-word title
3. A book on your TBR

🟠 Gold Blocks – Award Winners (Critically Acclaimed Books)

1. A book that won a major literary award
2. A book recommended by a celebrity
3. A book from a “Best of the Year” list

🟤 Bronze Blocks – Knowledge is power (Learn Something New)

1. A book that has taught you something new
2. A book that inspires creativity or motivation
3. A book with a message that changed your perspective

💖 Pink Blocks – Love & Relationships (Romance & More)

1. A romance novel with an HEA (Happily Ever After)
2. A book about friendship, family, or personal bonds
3. A book featuring a love triangle or second-chance romance

Special powers:

You can use them one time at any point in the game. If you want to use any of them again, 5 points

1 - Swap all blocks of a colour with one of another colour
2 - Skip a block colour in one round
(i.e. if you receive 🟤 🟠 🟤 🟠 🟦 and decide to skip reading for 🟤 colour block but still use them)
3- Ask for another set of 5 blocks in a round

Points tracking: 36

Res

Your block set


🟦 ⬛ 🟥 💖 🟩
🟪 ⬛ 🟠 💖 🟠
⬜ 🟪 🟥 🟦 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5

Round 1: Your set of blocks is below. You need to read for at least 3 of them and let me know their placement. Next round will commence after this round is completed

Only books completed from 01 May 2025 will be accepted.
🟩 🟩 💖 🟠 ⬜

Book: The Catch
Author: Yrsa Daley-Ward
Date completed: 07-May
Block: 💖
How it fits: A book about friendship, family, or personal bonds - explores in particular the bonds between mothers and daughters, and between two estranged sisters, Clara and Dempsey.
Chosen position: Column 4

Book: Brotherless Night
Author: V.V. Ganeshananthan
Date completed: 11-May
Block: 🟠
How it fits: A book that won a major literary award- won the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction.
Chosen position: Column 4

Book: The Deep
Author: Rivers Solomon
Date completed: 13-May
Block: 🟩
How it fits: A book from a genre you rarely read - these days I rarely read fantasy, and I've never read one about mermaids.
Chosen position: Column 5

Round 2

🟨 🟧 💖 🟦 🟥

Your block set


🟦 ⬛ ❌ ❌ ❌
🟪 ⬛ 🟥 ❌ ❌
⬜ 🟪 🟥 🟦 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5

Book: The Death of Vivek Oji
Author: Akwaeke Emezi
Date completed: 20-May
Block: 🟦
How it fits: A classic or literary fiction novel - a literary fiction novel.
Chosen position: Column 4

Book: Sociopath
Author: Patric Gagne
Date completed: 24-May
Block: 🟧
How it fits: A memoir or biography - a memoir.
Chosen position: Column 5

Book: Hunger
Author: Choi Jin-young
Date completed: 06-Jun
Block: 🟥
How it fits: A book with a chase or escape scene - Gu briefly escapes his captors, the loan sharks, before they capture and kill him.
Chosen position: Column 3

Let me know when you are done with a round :)

done with this round!

Round 3

🟥 🟧 ⬛ 💖 🟪

Your block set


🟦 ⬛ ❌ ❌ ❌
🟪 ⬛ ❌ 🟦 🟧
⬜ 🟪 ❌ 🟦 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5

Book: White Nights
Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Date completed: 23-Jun
Block: 🟧
How it fits: A book set before 1950 - written and set in the 1840s.
Chosen position: Column 5

Book: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
Author: Becky Chambers
Date completed: 01-Jul
Block: 🟪
How it fits: A science fiction novel - science fiction.
Chosen position: Column 3

Book: The Poppy War
Author: R.F. Kuang
Date completed: 13-Aug
Block: ⬛️
How it fits: A book featuring a villain's POV - Rin is the protagonist but by the end her actions can be considered villanous and very morally questionable.
Chosen position: Column 2

ready to move onto the next round!

Round 4

⬛ 🟧 💖 💖 🟦

Your block set


🟦 ❌ ❌ ❌ 🟧
🟪 ❌ ❌ 🟦 🟧
⬜ 🟪 🟪 🟦 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5

Book: Fourth Wing
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Date completed: 19-Aug
Block: 💖
How it fits: A book featuring a love triangle or second-chance romance - There is a love triangle between Violet, Xaden and Dain.
Chosen position: Column 3

Book: Luminous
Author: Silvia Park
Date completed: 27-Aug
Block: 🟦
How it fits: A classic or literary fiction novel - Literary science fiction
Chosen position: Column 4

Book: I Who Have Never Known Men
Author: Jacqueline Harpman
Date completed: 30-Aug
Block: 💖
How it fits: A book about friendship, family, or personal bonds - The book celebrates female friendship and bonds.
Chosen position: Column 3

Round 5

🟩 🟤 🟥 🟪 💖

Your block set


🟦 ❌ 💖 ❌ 🟧
🟪 ❌ 💖 ❌ 🟧
⬜ 🟪 🟪 ❌ 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5

Book: Death of the Author
Author: Nnedi Okorafor
Date completed: 11-Sep
Block: 🟪
How it fits: A science fiction novel - Science Fiction
Chosen position: Column 4

Book: Tales from the Café
Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Date completed: 13-Sep
Block: 💖
How it fits: A book about friendship, family, or personal bonds - All the customers who travel time do so wanting to meet someone with whom they have a strong bond
Chosen position: Column 3

Book: A Short Stay in Hell
Author: Steven L. Peck
Date completed: 18-Sep
Block: 🟥
How it fits: A book with a chase or escape scene - Soren and Rachel are chased by the Direites in ch. 4.
Chosen position: Column 4

ready to move onto the next round!

Round 6

🟩 🟤 ⬜ 🟦 ⬛

Your block set


🟦 ❌ ❌ ❌ 🟧
🟪 ❌ ❌ ❌ 🟧
⬜ ❌ ❌ 🟥 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5

Book: Iron Flame
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Date completed: 24-Sep
Block: 🟦
How it fits: A book over 500 pages - 640 pages.
Chosen position: Column 1

Book: How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
Author: Angie Cruz
Date completed: 02-Oct
Block: ⬜️
How it fits: A book on your TBR - added to my TBR 04-Dec-22.
Chosen position: Column 2

Book: The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World
Author: Hannah Brencher
Date completed: 08-Oct
Block: 🟤
How it fits: A book with a message that changed your perspective - made me more thoughtful about being less digitally connected and more present in daily life.
Chosen position: Column 4

Should we move to next?

yes please!

Round 7

🟤 🟪 ⬜ 🟥 🟠

Your block set

🟦
🟦 ❌ ❌ ❌ 🟧
🟪 ❌ ❌ 🟤 🟧
⬜ ⬜ ❌ 🟥 🟥

  1   2    3    4    5